1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a heat exchanger, more particularly, to a micro-channel heat exchanger.
2. Description of the Related Art
The micro-channel heat exchanger is used for heat exchanging. For example the micro-channel heat exchanger may be used as a condenser or an evaporator in a refrigeration system and generally comprises headers, flat tubes formed with micro channels, and fins disposed between two adjacent flat tubes. The micro-channel heat exchanger may comprise a plurality of flow paths, when the number of the flow paths is even, the outlet and inlet of the micro-channel heat exchanger are formed in the same header, and when the number of the flow paths is odd, the outlet and inlet of the micro-channel heat exchanger are formed in two opposite headers respectively.
According to the size and operating condition of the micro-channel heat exchanger, in order to optimize the heat transfer performance, both the micro-channel heat exchanger having an odd number of flow paths and the micro-channel heat exchanger having an even number of flow paths are widely used. The location of the outlet of the micro-channel heat exchanger having an odd number of flow paths is different from that of the outlet of the micro-channel heat exchanger having an even number of flow paths, which makes the installation of the micro-channel heat exchanger and design of the packing case therefore difficult. For example, with the micro-channel heat exchanger having an odd number of flow paths, the outlet and inlet thereof may be required to be formed at the same side; with the micro-channel heat exchanger having an even number of flow paths, the outlet and inlet thereof may be required to be formed at opposite sides. The conventional micro-channel heat exchanger can not meet the above requirements, so that it is difficult to install the micro-channel heat exchanger, thus decreasing the work efficiency.
In addition, when the micro-channel heat exchanger is used as condenser, the required amount of the refrigerant is different according to the operating condition. The conventional micro-channel heat exchanger cannot adjust the refrigerant amount in the circuit of the refrigeration system, so that the operation of the refrigeration system is not stable.